julian adams



(N0 Modem A V G. M. WEAVER, J. ADAMS 81; J. A. HAMILTON. THILL-GOUPLING FOB. VEHICLES. N0.'510,220. Paten-ted'Do'. '5, I893.

%V0meoow I v 72 z/fiw Q2. 6? M NITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

GEORGE MARSHALL WEAVER, JULIAN ADAMS, AND JAMES ALBERT HAMIL- TON, OF NEEPAWA, CANADA.

.THILL-COUPLING FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,220, dated December 5, 1893.

Application filed March 28,1893.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE MARSHALL WEAVER, JULIAN ADAMS, and JAMES ALBERT HAMILTON, subjects of the Queen of Great 5 Britain, residing at Neepawa, in the county of Beautiful Plains, Province of Manitoba, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shaft-Supporting Attachments for Vehicles;

I and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to shaft supports for buggies, carriages, wagons and other vehicles.

The object is to provide an efficient and reliable attachment for holding the shafts or thills of a buggy or other vehicle in an elezo vated or upright position when the vehicleis not in use.

The invention will first be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and then particularly pointed out in the claims at z the end of this description.

Referring to the drawings by letters of reference, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a device embodying our invention; the shaftbeing shown supported in an elevated position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the shaft lowered in position for use. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the clip and convex washer or clamping plate for securing the spring support to the shaft or pole; and Fig. 5 at is a side elevation of a modified form of the device.

Similar letters of reference are used to de note similar parts in each of the several views.

A, denotes a shaft or thill provided with the usual thill iron a, which is pivoted in the usual manner to ears b, projecting from the clip B. The clip B, is fitted over the axle O, with its screw-threaded ends passing through screw-threaded openings in the cross-bar or keeper D, on the under side of the axle, and having the set nuts I), screwed thereon, so as to secure the parts to the axle in a manner well known in the art.

The parts thus far described may be of the serial No. 468,074. (No model.)

ordinary or of any preferred construction and form no essential part of our invention.

The keeper D, is provided with a rearward extension which terminates in an upwardly and forwardly inclined dog (I, for a purpose'55 to be described.

E, denotes a stout spring, of steel or other suitable material, which has one end adj nstably secured to a clip F, upon the thill or shaft A, and is preferably provided at its free end with an abrupt bend or rounded portion e, so as to form a shoulder which is adapted to engage the angular portion or knee d, of the dog, when the shaft is elevated as shown in Fig. 1, and aid in holding the shaft in an elevated position by resisting any slight pull upon the shaft tending to disconnect the parts. The opposite end of the spring E, is curved and slotted longitudinally as ate, so as to fit the curvature of the recessed bed or seat 7 f, formed in the face of the clip F. The clip F is also provided with lugs or bolts f, having screw-threaded ends to receive the nuts f and with a clamping plate or keeper G,which is placed on the under side of the shaft between said nuts and the thill iron at, so as to secure the parts to the shaft. The keeper G, is preferably formed with lugs g, which engage the sides of the thill iron and prevent lateral motion and rattling of the parts in use. I

F, denotes a convex washer or clamping plate the convex surface of. which is adapted to fit the concavity formed by the shank of the spring restingin the recess or seat f, and which is provided with a set screw f adapted to fit a screw-threaded opening f, in the concave face of the clip F, for the purpose of binding the head of the spring firmly to its seat. By this means a firm and rigid connection is made for the attachment of the spring to the thill or shaft, and at the same time a very nice adjustment may be secured, so as to vary the tension of the spring E, to meet the various requirements of the uses to which it may be put, as for instance, in sustaining thills or shafts of different weights. The shaft may also be held at any desired angle by moving the clip up or down thereon. When the shafts are raised the spring or 1o:

springs E, moving in the direction indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 2, will engage the inclined edge or back of the dog (1, and slide along the same until the shoulder e, passes beneath the knee or angle (1', so as to sustain the shaft in an elevated or upright position. By a slight downward pull upon the shaft the spring or springs IE, will slip over the end of the dog and permit the shaft to be lowered into position for use.

It will be understood, of course, that the device thus described is used upon one shaft or thill only and that a duplicate thereof is used for the shaft at the opposite end of the axle.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the clamping plate or keeper D, is extended in front of the axle, so as to provide a lug or ear 01 to receive the pivot bolt which secures the thill iron (1, of the shaft or pole, and a U-shaped bolt or earless clip B,is employed for clamping the keeper to the axle. This construction adapts the attachment to be applied to a vehicle having U-shaped bolts or clips without ears thereon for the attachment of the thill, and may be advantageously employed when it is desired to use but a single support for sustaininga pole ora pairof shafts in an elevated position; the single support being secured between the two shafts.

A shaft support for vehicles has heretofore been devised in which a spring having one end adjustably secured to the thill or shaft and projecting rearwardlytherefrom is adapted to engage a spring catch or dog projecting from the keeper or cross-bar through which the depending ends of the axle clip pass. Hence we make no broad claim to such contrivances; but in such constructions the parts are so arranged that when the shaft is elevated the projecting end of the spring is liable to hitch or catch upon the front face or projecting end of the catch or dog, with liability to bend, break, or disarrange the parts so as to seriously interfere with the practical operation of the device, and it is difficult to secure the proper adjustment of the spring to prevent such casualties. In our construction, as will be observed, the spring is formed with a curved shank and an oppositely curved rearwardly projecting main portion the free end of which, in operation, is adapted to be thrown past the forwardly inclined end of a rigid dog projecting from the rearward extension of the keeper so as to engage the inclined back thereof, as indicated in Fig.2, and slide down the back of said inclined dog until the shouldered end of the spring passes the angle d, or knee, thereby insuring the proper engagement without liability to injure or disarrange the parts.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a vehicle, the combination with the thill coupling, of the keeper having the rearward extension provided with a rigid upwardly and forwardly inclined dog, the clip adjustably secured to the shaft, and the spring having a curved shank adj ustably secured to said clip and provided with an oppositely curved rearwardly projecting main portion adapted to engage the dog when the shaft is elevated and to sustain the latter in an elevated position, substantially as described.

2. A shaft support comprising the axle clip, the keeper having a rearward extension with upwardly and forwardly inclined terminal extending at an acute angle to the main portion, an ear projecting from one of said parts, the shaft clip having a concaved recessed face, the spring having a longitudinally slotted shank fitting said recess, the convex clamping plate, and the set screw for adjustably securing the spring to said shaft clip, substantially as described.

3. A shaft support comprising the axle clip, the keeper having a rearward extension provided with a rigid upwardly and forwardly inclined dog extending at an acute angle to the main portion of said keeper, an ear projecting from one of said parts, the shaft clip having a concaved recessed seat in the upper surface thereof, the spring having a curved longitudinally slotted shank fitting said concave seat, the convex clamping plate fitting the curved shank of said spring resting in said seat, and means for binding the shank of the spring and clamping plate to said clip, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we attix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE MARSHALL 'WEAVER. JULIAN ADAMS. JAMES ALBERT HAMILTON.

Witnesses:

JOHN LAW, W. M. HAMILTON. 

